Ibai

01What to order

• Galician Blond, 1 kg / 2.2 lbT-bone, sirloin or rib from Xose Portas in Pontevedra, £150 on the October 2026 menu. A cut for the table.
• Black Angus, 1 kg / 2.2 lbFrom Miguel Vergara in Castile and León; £135 for the T-bone, sirloin or rib.
• Fullblood wagyuFrom Rob Cumine near Newport, Wales: a 1 kg / 2.2 lb rib, a 400 g / 14 oz sirloin or a 350 g / 12 oz fillet. The menu prints £160 beside the three.
• Sirloin steak frites, lunch only250 g / 9 oz for £30, the lunchtime dish Time Out singled out in January 2025.
• Croque IbaiCarabinero prawn, boudin noir and Tomme de Brebis, £23: the house pintxo.
• Beef-fat fries and a sauceFries £9; anchovy and herb, red wine, or Ossau-Iraty and black pepper sauce at £4 each.

02The beef

Three breeds, three regions, a name on each. Black Angus comes from Miguel Vergara in Castile and León, Galician Blond from Xose Portas in Pontevedra, fullblood wagyu from Rob Cumine near Newport, Wales. The supply runs through Txuleta, the beef business founded by co-owner Nemanja Borjanović, who also sells Galician and British beef to other London kitchens. In 2024 he set up the first UK-reared Galician Blond herd, on the Gorhambury Estate in St Albans, to supply Ibai. The wagyu has changed farms: Hot Dinners named Norfolk wagyu in 2024, Time Out named farmer Sam Frost in 2025, and the current menu names Wales. No source gives aging days.

03The fire

A charcoal grill, per Hot Dinners' 2024 review. It sits in an open kitchen. Steaks leave the flames and rest on the counter before slicing, per the 50 Best Discovery listing. The kilo cuts are T-bone, sirloin and rib, all bone-in or close to it. Fish and chicken take the same grill: a turbot chop, a slow-grilled Basque chicken. Order the kilo.

04The story

Ibai was announced in May 2024 for that summer and opened in mid-2024: Country & Town House says July, Jancis Robinson June. The owners are Nemanja Borjanović, founder of Txuleta and co-owner of Lurra and Donostia in Marylebone, and William Sheard, formerly of Majestic Wine, who supplies wine to London restaurants. Chef Richard Foster ran the kitchen at Chiltern Firehouse for a decade. The name comes from a San Sebastián pintxo bar with a small restaurant in its basement, which closed in 2021. The site, a former carpet warehouse, previously housed the restaurant Lino.

05The practical

90 Bartholomew Close, London EC1A 7BN, per the house (press reviews give No. 92), between Farringdon and Barbican stations. Open Monday to Saturday, 12:00 to 22:00; closed on Sunday. Book through SevenRooms, by phone at 020 4597 3821 or by email at reservations@ibai.london. There are two private rooms for 13 guests each, which open into one, and counter seats by the windows for solo diners. Daily specials sit beside the printed menu.

Address

90 Bartholomew Close, Farringdon, London EC1A 7BN

Phone

+44 20 4597 3821

Website

ibai.london

Directions

Google Maps ↗

06In London’s selections